In Four-Peat Pete, I had a face-off with various methods of removing graffiti I find. Afterwards, pal and frequent visitor to this blog ;-) Elmer suggested I might try a cordless drill with an abrasive wheel. I decided to take him up on his suggestion but would have to wait until new graffiti appeared.

During last week's escapades, I discovered some new graffiti on the walkbridge over the highway and vowed to return for Face-off II.

Monday I was on-call but gambled my work phone wouldn't ring, so I rode my mountain bike to the park for Face-off II. My bike and I almost made it when I lost the gamble-my phone went off as we reached the skate house. After answering the call I decided I'd come too far to turn around without at least a peek at the possible results, so I continued on to the site.

My test piece was this garden variety tagging:

I gave the contender 5 minutes before leaving to fulfill my work obligations.

I returned on Tuesday after work. With the light rain falling, I figured I would be able to continue Face-off II without many passersby wondering what I was doing.

My battery wasn't dead yet so I proceeded to Round II.

I was about 2/3 finished with this when the battery finally died. I then started Round III and used the sandpaper to finish it off. Notice the large, flat patch on the right side.

I then turned to the next piece of graffiti and let the sandpaper tackle it alone.

Sandpaper did such a clean job on this. It was no contest; the sandpaper is light, easily packable, does not die in the middle of the job, and leaves a nice smooth spot. It is moderately faster than the abrasive wheel although not as fast as I would like. It also provides a little pectoral/shoulder/arm workout!

Before leaving, I had to address another piece of graffiti I discovered on Monday, right around the corner from the walkbridge. Neither the abrasive wheel nor sandpaper would do here.

I first tried my patented WirebrushTechnique® with no effect. Out came my own spray paint.

Trust me; it'll blend in better with time.

As I reported last week, I was told both the East and West Peak parking lots were looking pretty shabby. Since last week I tackled West Peak, this week would be East Peak/Castle Craig.

Sticking with the theme of this week's title of course, IT HAD TO RAIN. I drove directly up to Castle Craig, cleaning the parking lot and surrounding area. Then I walked the road over to West Peak just shy of where I turned onto the trail last week, then turned around, cleaning up one side of the road then the other side. I threw both bags of trash into my van and carted them away.

If people can brave the rain to visit Castle Craig or pick up trash, you can surely visit on a sunny day and enjoy the view. Now get on it while the leaves are reaching their peak!